


Time Means Nothing

by FaeOrabel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dumbledore's Armada's Bronze and Gold Flash Comp, Flash Comp, Gen, Major Character Death but we already knew they were dead, Pining Bloody Baron, Prompt: The Grey Lady - Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, Sassy Helena, slight depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:49:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29031195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaeOrabel/pseuds/FaeOrabel
Summary: A letter never sent.A search completed with death.A girl who only wants to atone.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 14
Collections: Bronze & Gold





	Time Means Nothing

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [pandora_rose_xo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandora_rose_xo/pseuds/pandora_rose_xo) in the [BronzeGold](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/BronzeGold) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> The Grey Lady - Ravenclaw House Ghost
> 
> Thank you so much to pandora rose and starryar for putting on this comp! I never intended to participate, but my muse smacked me in the face and I just had to. I can't wait to see what everyone came up with.
> 
> Big love to my alpha and beta, who will remain nameless until the completion of the comp. 
> 
> my prompt was Helena Ravenclaw, I hope you enjoy what my muse used to keep me up at night.

_23 August 1000_

> “Helena,
> 
> Should I retire before the Baron brings you home, I am writing this letter in hopes that it reaches you in your travels. I know why you left and why you took it with you. While I may be lauded as an intelligent witch, I have no excuse for not seeing what I was doing to my daughter. The signs were all right in front of me, and I dismissed them just like I dismissed you. I should’ve praised you more often for your accomplishment, of which there were very many, my dear. 
> 
> Instead I only focused on pushing you to be better, when you were already everything I could’ve ever wanted. 
> 
> You have grown into an amazing woman, and I need you to know while I might not be there to see you succeed further, I will always be with you. I will never leave your side. 
> 
> I do not blame you, sweet child, for stealing my diadem and fleeing. I would’ve done the same thing in your shoes with a mother like me. I wish I could’ve been better to you in this lifetime, but I promise to hold you dear in the next. You will no doubt surpass me in achievements and intelligence on this plane, and I cannot wait to hear how you changed the world for the better when we meet again. 
> 
> You do not need to tell the Founders anything; I haven’t. Not out of shame, but because they have no place in judging you as I do not. Your place at the castle is secure, and you are free to take my place when you return. I hope it is soon so I can tell you all of this in person. 
> 
> I love you, my little raven,
> 
> Your Mother.”

Putting the quill by her side, she set the letter on the bed next to her, wracked with another coughing fit. She warily looked at her handkerchief and winced as fresh blood settled into the pale periwinkle fabric. Once her body was able to breathe again, she felt light-headed over the lungfuls she took in, oxygen flooding her body and brain. 

Her sickness was progressing, she knew it; everyone knew it. The way her servants no longer looked her in the eyes told her everything she needed to know. They did not want to picture how she would inevitably look on her funeral pyre. 

Her body sagged into the bed; she hadn’t left it in weeks, not even for the restroom, which was humiliating all on its own. At least she could still perform basic magic, though even vanishing the messes in her sheets were becoming more draining every day. A strong, confident, intelligent woman turned into someone who needed help doing the simplest of things. There was only one person she wanted here when the time came, and he would find her. 

Letting her eyes droop shut, her breath slowed—she just needed to rest for a moment. When she opened them again, her daughter would be home. Just a short nap was all she needed. 

* * *

_24 August 1000_

  
  


With an unholy squelch, he pulled his dagger from her body, the red haze leaving his eyes. The energy he had only a moment ago now made his limbs heavy and his breath labored. Looking around, he tried to remember where he was and what he had just done. 

A glance down forced everything to come rushing back. 

“Helena,” he moaned, “No—Helena!”

He had asked her to come home with him, citing her mother’s illness and wish to see her. He'd been entrusted with her safety, her wellbeing, her life, and now he stood over her. She was wearing white, and the Baron shivered as the breeze met his sweaty skin. 

She’d been stubborn as always, but this time the playfulness he’d grown used to had vanished. There were no traces of the girl he’d fallen in love with as he tried to convince her home. Instead, she ruefully sniped at him, eyes darting between him and some stupid tree she seemed weirdly protective of. She threw his love for her in his face and called him a liar. She said her mother would never want her back after what she’d done. 

It was being called a liar that had enraged him. He’d pushed her up against her infernal tree and wrapped a hand around her throat. Dared her to call him a liar once more, and when she did, he saw red. He’d been taken over by a demon inside him, a demon formed of his inadequacy from a young age. 

Taking account of how many wounds she had and how covered he was, he knew there was no saving her. He’d never be able to live with this. Thinking of Rowena, alone and sick, waiting for her daughter, he knew no forgiveness could ever be given for his actions. 

```````````````````````````````````````````

She struggled to keep consciousness as he panicked over her. She gasped shallowly for breath, but her body felt so cold. She felt so numb, and she wasn’t even sure if he could see her trying to stay awake. If only he could see she was still there, he could apparate her to her mother’s side. For all the wrongs she had committed, her last thoughts were wishing that the one person she wanted to die beside were with her. 

“I’m so sorry,” the Baron whispered as his knife found himself this time. 

Perhaps she was on her way, Helena hoped. Perhaps if she hung on a bit longer, she could see her mother again.

The Baron collapsed over her, his heavy armor pinning her down into the wet mud.

Helena shivered finally, and felt enough strength gather within her to wiggle out from under the baron’s lifeless form. She crawled through the mud until she could stand again, and she grappled against the tree to help her stand. 

  
“Helena…” a voice said, and she whipped around. 

In front of her stood the Baron, and Helena bit her lip, looking back at the lifeless lump of their two bodies sinking into the marsh.

Through a twist of fate, or as punishment for their actions, they both came back, having unfinished business on this plane. She wouldn’t look at him, and he could feel the chains around him grow heavier the closer they got to Hogwarts. 

* * *

31 October 1945

“I still haven’t forgiven him. I don’t think I ever will. I hope those chains he carries drag him down to the pits of hell where he belongs. The diadem is still in that hollow tree back in Albania where he found me,” Helena told the boy. “I died thinking he lied about my mother. But when I returned to the castle, I found out he was telling the truth from the servant who’d been in charge of her in her illness. She was gone by the time I got home, but I found out everything from a letter she didn't get to send. She never blamed me for the diadem. While I thought she didn’t tell the Founders because she was ashamed, she just didn’t want them to think poorly of me.”

Helena floated over to a window that overlooked the grounds. She’d been at Hogwarts ever since her return, unable to leave the site of her betrayal. She hated herself for what she had done, but she hated the Baron even more for his crimes. What he had stolen from her was greater than any diadem she took from her mother. But maybe there was still a way for her betrayal to be made right. 

“Do you really think you’ll be able to find the diadem? I can’t remember exactly what tree, but I know it was hollowed out from a fire. I hid it inside and covered it with dirt and leaves. I’d be very grateful if you could return it here. It’s been so nice talking to someone who understands.”

Helena turned and looked at the boy, her one confidant in all these years. No one had ever bothered to ask about _her_ before. They always wanted to know about her mother or the secrets of the castle. 

Tom smiled, and Helena returned it, the action feeling foreign on her ghostly face.

“It may take a couple years,” he said.

“Time means nothing to me now,” Helena sighed, blinking and feeling like his eyes were suddenly green when she knew they were brown. A moment later, she was back where she started in front of the dark haired boy. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “You’ll do it?”

“Of course I will. Anything for you, Helena.”

  
  



End file.
